The Carnegie Mellon University women’s track and field team competed at the Denison University Bob Shannon Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 3, and won the event for the second straight season with 118 points.

The Tartans swept the mile run: sophomore Kate Reilly won the event in 5:17.93. Juniors Rose Ciriello and Wade Lacey finished second and third in 5:27.71 and 5:29.69, respectively.

Sophomore Emmalyn Lindsey won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 19:03.48 and first-year Parvathi Meyyappan placed second after crossing in 19:07.46.

Senior Sarah Cook placed second with a time of the 200-meter dash in 27.24 and in the 400-meter raced in 59.26. Junior Debarati Bhanja took third in 1:01.10 in the 400-meter race.

Sophomore Michelle Karabin placed third in the pole vault after clearing the bar at 3.35 meters. Junior Autumn Hair jumped 10.12 meters for third placed in the triple jump and senior Kiersten Chuc tossed 13.85 meters in the weight throw f...

Can you imagine cheering for a team called the “New York Jews” or the “San Francisco Chinese?” What about wearing a hat whose logo is an exaggerated stereotype: a yarmulke-wearing big-nosed man or an excessively slant-eyed man donning a conical hat?

Just thinking about these hypothetical teams is uncomfortable, but one ethnic group, Native Americans, is commonly used as professional sports teams’ mascots throughout the U.S. The Washington Redskins in the NFL has received a lot of flak over the past several years for their blatantly racist name, while the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball, the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, and the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs have also been criticized, albeit to a lesser degree. The Cleveland Indians made a major step towards rectifying their team’s offensive branding this past week.

Last Monday, MLB announced that after the 2018 season — due to get underway on March 29 — the Indians will discontinue their “Chief Wa...

The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team played two games against University Athletic Association (UAA) rivals this past weekend, the New York University (NYU) Violets on Friday, Feb. 2, and the Brandeis University Judges on Sunday, Feb. 4. The Tartans split the games, falling to NYU 71–59 and defeating Brandeis 72–58.

Against the Violets, three Tartans scored double digit points, led by junior Patrick Ehland with 14 points off the bench. Ehland also led the team in rebounds, with seven. Sophomore Colin McNeil posted his first career double-double, with 10 points and 10 assists, which also led the Carnegie Mellon squad. Sophomore Zach Howard also added 10 points in the loss.

The Tartans opened the game strong, going on a 9–2 run to set the tone early. The Violets responded immediately with their own 14–1 run in the next five minutes to establish a 16–10 lead over the home team. The momentum shifted to the Tartans, who took back the lead 22–18 with a 12–2 run, with seven of th...

This past weekend, the Carnegie Mellon women’s basketball team faced off against two University Athletic Association (UAA) rivals, the New York University (NYU) Violets and the Brandeis University Judges.

In front of an excited home crowd at Skibo Gymnasium, the Tartans battled the Violets in a nail-biting game on Friday, Feb. 2. The game came to the final seconds of the fourth quarter, with the Tartans ultimately falling 68–63 to their University Athletic Association (UAA) rivals.

Three Tartans scored in the double digits, with sophomore McKayla Filiere leading the way with 23 points. Sophomore Katharine Higgins followed with 15 points and nine rebounds, while first-year Kylie Huffman dropped 10 points off the bench and added four blocks. Junior Jenn Mayberger led the team with nine rebounds and six assists.

The Violets got on the scoreboard first with a quick layup and held off the aggressive Tartans squad for most of the first quarter. With 3:44 left in the quarter, Fili...

On Jan. 24, former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. Over 150 of his victims spoke in court, and the total number of accusers has risen to nearly 300 young women. He has been a criminal since his years at Michigan State University to his rise as the leading doctor of USA Gymnastics. Victims have said they merely believed his abuse was how doctors typically worked, as they were exposed to him when they were as young as six.

The Pittsburgh Promise scholarship announced on Jan. 29 its intention to implement significant reforms beginning with the current class of seniors in Pittsburgh’s public high schools. The changes involve lowering the maximum scholarship amount from $7,500 to $5,000 per year, while broadening full eligibility status to a larger population of students.

Previously, the scholarship amount was determined using a “sliding scale” which gave more money to students who had been attending Pittsburgh Public Schools for a longer time. A student who has been in the school district since kindergarten used to be eligible for more than someone who transferred to the district in middle school, for example. But starting with the high school class of 2018, stud...

With the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics fast approaching on Feb. 9, South Korean society has mobilized at an effort to successfully host 50,000 participants and staff from 95 countries at the winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. From the continuous hard work of the 129-member organizing committee to the thousands of volunteers who have dedicated countless hours to the training and preparation of the event to the ordinary citizen eager to welcome an international crowd to their home country, the past year for Koreans has been one of a common mission and purpose.

The observed general unity, however, is an oversimplification of the social sentiments revolving around the Olympic games. Since 2011 when PyeongChang was selected as the host city, there has been much debate surrounding the broader goal of hosting such an event. Government officials have argued since its inception that the Olym...

Make no mistake: Donald Trump is still Donald Trump. The State of the Union address was one many expected to mark a continued pattern of deranged ramblings in public appearances, yet what we saw was very different. Namely, Trump stuck to the teleprompter. The speech shared little rhetorically with Trump's usual Twitter outbursts and hyperbolic attacks. It was undoubtedly written by his team of advisors, some of whom are competent enough to construct coherent English sentences unlike the President. Trump's signature off-script quips of "terrible" and "carnage" were nowhere to be found.

And yet, the terrible policies behind his typical insultingly simplistic language remained. He spoke of the need for a southern border wall and reinforced his apparent unwillingness to negotiate on immigration, despite empty calls for bipartisanship that he has in days since thrown to the wayside. Noticeably absent were calls for the border wall to be paid for by Mexico. While nothing has changed o...

You might have seen the headlines. Harvard University banned single-gender organizations in May 2016, but they are now being enforced for the first time. Those who decide on single-gender organizations are barred from holding leadership positions, including athletic team captains. This ban came after Harvard's poor policies regarding sexual assault came to light. But Harvard's banning of single-gender organizations takes away powerful female-only spaces, leading to the #HearHerHarvard movement, which is one I proudly support.

The #HearHerHarvard focuses on the positives many women have found in sororities across the country. Even at Carnegie Mellon, I've seen students...

Each year, the Grammys spark heated debate. In recent years much of the discussion has been centered around diversity and for good reason. Only a handful of black artists have won the three most prestigious awards — Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year — while many have been pigeonholed into categories like hip-hop, R&B, and “urban contemporary.” In fact, only one hip-hop artist has ever been awarded one of the three major awards: Outkast for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004. Clearly, the representation of minorities is an issue that needs to be better addressed and solved.

However, another constant source of drama has been that the awards often end up being a popularity contest. Over the past few years, the main three awards have typically been given to the most popular artist of the year, as opposed to the artist who created the most artistically impressive or meaningful piece of work. For example, this year, Bruno Mars, who has produced some of the...

There are few figures in history that evoke as much admiration, disdain, and often heated debate as Karl Marx. In celebration of his influential and controversial life and work, attendees of the Marx@200 events organized by The Humanities Center will gather to discuss his writings and the various ways they have been applied since their inception. Whether you’re a dyed-in-the-wool libertarian or hammer and sickle-sporting communist, Marx@200 events offer a nuanced take on Marxist thought in the modern day.

If Karl Marx were alive today, it would be his 200th birthday. 2018 also marks the the 170th birthday of Marx’s most-referenced work, The Communist Manifesto, and 2017 marked the 150th birthday of another famed piece of his, Capital: Critique of Political Economy. Scholars of Marx across the world have used these birthdays as a special opportunity to discuss his influential writing.

At Carnegie Mellon University, Marx@200 will join in this worldwide examination of Marx’s ...

What does your debit card have in common with a smartphone, a library book, and an outdoor cat? All of these things are commonly equipped with a technology called Radio Frequency Identification, better known as RFID.

RFID is a short-range technology that uses radio waves to track and identify specially tagged items. Because RFID tags are usually small, light, and flat, they can be attached to almost anything. According to Technovelgy, each tag has a microchip that contains digitally stored data, as well as an antenna that can send or receive radio signals.

According to HowStuffWorks.com, to read the data on a RFID tag, you need an RFID reader. The reader sends out electromagnetic energy in the form of radio waves, which are received by the tag's antenna. The tag responds with its own radio signal, which contains the data stored on its microchip...

The scene in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, when through the bluish light of R2-D2's suspended 3D image, Princess Leia famously says, "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope," captures, arguably one of the most iconic moments from the Star Wars universe. With its graceful desperation, an undercurrent of hope and the impending possibility of adventure, the scene, in some ways, sets the mood of the movie. It inspires us to seek out those moments of adventure in our own lives, and the best part is that we might be able to do that with 3D images like the one in the scene.

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, have managed to create such an image about the size of a postage stamp, according to Science. At the moment, the researchers' technology uses a single particle to draw these images, which means that it can only draw very small pictures, though they are high-resolution pictures. Daniel Smalley, an electrical engineer who worked on the research s...

When scientists apply for research funding and reviewers evaluate applications with a focus on the applicant's CVs, male scientists are more likely than female scientists to receive funding. When reviewers focus on the proposed research, the bias vanishes.

These were the findings of a recent study of 24,000 grant applications to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), a federal funding agency similar to the U.S. National Institute of Health.

In 2014, CIHR replaced its traditional grant application system with a more modern one, consisting of two complementary grant application programs. In one program, grant applications are evaluated primarily based on the proposed research the grant would support. In the other, grant applications are evaluated primarily based on the applicant — their previous research and their career.

A team led by health-informatics researcher Holly Witteman examined three years' worth of grant applications and their outcomes, comparing the...

On Dec. 12, 2017, the nation nervously waited for Alabama to choose between Republican Roy Moore, an alleged predator, or Democrat Doug Jones, a consistent advocate for civil rights throughout his career. However, 2017 did not see the last of suspenseful Senate elections between conventional candidates and strikingly unqualified candidates. On Nov. 6, Missouri must elect someone to represent its state in the House.

Here is where Republican candidate Courtland Sykes comes in the scene.

Sykes identifies himself as the "America First candidate" and has consistently shown support for President Donald Trump's campaign promises and policies. "If you like President Trump, then you and I see eye-to-eye," he proudly stated in his campaign video. Ultimately, he has a mission to "fulfill Trump's 'America First' agenda," which he believes is being "sabotag[ed]" by "globalists and Big Government."

Alcohol Amnesty
Jan. 27, 2018
University Police responded to reports of an intoxicated female on Margaret Morrison street. A University of Pittsburgh student was provided with medical attention and no citations were issued due to alcohol amnesty.

Disorderly Conduct
Jan. 28, 2018
During a traffic stop on Fifth Avenue, University Police detected an odor of marijuana and seized marijuana and drug paraphernalia. A non-affiliate was issued a citation for disorderly conduct.

Hit and Run
Jan. 28, 2018
A driver struck another unoccupied vehicle multiple times as it attempted to parallel park on South Craig Street and proceed to leave the scene without providing all necessary information. University Police conducted a traffic stop of the driver and a non-affiliate was issued a traffic citation.

Warrant Arrest
Jan. 30, 2018
University Police responded to reports of a suspicious male at Warner Hall. An investigation determined the male unlawfully took a staff...

The Children’s School at Carnegie Mellon University — one of the most sought after children's schools for children three to six years of age in Pittsburgh — is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In 1971, it was placed under the Department of Psychology in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The school was founded in 1968 by Ann Baldwin Taylor — a developmental psychologist and educator, with a grant from the Esso Foundation and support from psychology professor John Sandberg. Dr. Baldwin served as director of the school for 25 years after which Dr. Sharon Carver, who also teaches at Carnegie Mellon, led the school and is serving her 25th year as the school’s director. Dr. Carver completed her Bachelor's and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon.

Dr. Baldwin founded the school based on the vision of John Dewey — philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer — who believed in progressive education, such as learning by doing, and argued that learning is a soci...

The Undergraduate Student Senate’s Campus Life committee recently launched a new campus outreach initiative in the form of the Humans of CMU Facebook page. Originally based on Brandon Stanton’s viral Humans of New York Instagram account, Humans of CMU aims to showcase many of the unique and compelling stories that walk on our campus every day. The goal is to display the diversity of perspectives that our community has to offer, by profiling different organizations, individuals, and events on our campus. Humans of CMU will provide a central spotlight on the diversity, community, and unity that exists at the heart of the Carnegie Mellon community.

Initially, Humans of CMU wants to publish a series of interviews with influential student leaders on campus, aiming to show the variety of backgrounds that Carnegie Mellon University hosts. Student leaders are unique and often have compelling stories about their paths thus far that aren’t always visible from the outside. Humans of CMU aim...

Just after winter break, several Carnegie Mellon students and professors engaged in a Twitter discussion about the best practices for teaching coding. The thread was brought to awareness after former adjunct professor in the School of Computer Science, Robert Seacord, tweeted, “As a Carnegie Mellon professor, I didn’t spend a lot of time catering to struggling students. I think this diverts resources from those who are going to succeed and make a difference.”

The tweet has since been deleted but not before students could see and interact with it.

Tanvi Bajpai, a junior in the School of Computer Science and teaching assistant (TA) for 15-151/21-128, a class teaching the mathematical foundations for computer science, replied to Seacord’s tweet with a thread about the importance of helping struggling students.
Another student took screenshots of Seacord’s ...